55DSL sponsors Cut&Paste's 2009 Digital Design Tournament

Cut&Paste Digital Design Tournament 2007 from Cut&Paste on Vimeo.

From my inbox:

55DSL is a proud global sponsor of Cut&Paste’s 2009 Digital Design Tournament. Cut&Paste, an innovative design company, is looking for talented designers to represent their city in two fast-paced, single-elimination rounds in 3D and one round for Motion, each with a unique design theme and set time limit. The annual global tournament is set to zip across 16 cities this year, from February through June 2009, and this year for the first time ever, all of the winners (that’s all 48 of them) will be thrown together for the first-ever GLOBAL CHAMPIONSHIP. You win your city, and we'll fly you to New York to go up against the world!

Cut&Paste is challenging designers from various backgrounds and nations across the map to dig deep and design their way into the spotlight. The annual Call for Competitors is now open, with two deadlines: January 14 for cities in North America, and February 6 for the Europe and Asia/Pacific regions.

55DSL is so excited to be one of the global sponsors of this competition, so please let all of your graphic design friends , family, and readers know about this amazing opportunity! Attached to this email is the Call for Competitors official press release. Also, you can find everything you need to know about the contest and global sponsors at CutandPaste.com

My take
Diesel and 55DSL have always been great at being patrons of the arts as a branding vehicle. Much as if they were sponsoring athletes, they work with both established, well-known artists and up-and-comers through projects like this one. This is the blueprint for success, and the results speak for themselves in the case of Diesel. I can't think of too many comparable clothing brands that have roots as deep as theirs are in the art and design world.

55DSL teams up with Rbodiga & Mitch Bwoy

It's 55DSL week! From my inbox comes news of their latest collaboration. If you're in the UK, don't miss it!

Following the success of their Notting Hill’s exhibition last August, 55DSL and Mitchy Bwoy have teamed up again to open a brand new exhibition space in London!

Starting this Saturday, December 6, the 55DSL Newburgh Street Flagship store will be playing host to the best artists that you don’t know about but may already appreciate. 55DSL is committed to using this space to celebrate the true originators of all the disciplines of visual arts and is available for artists of all levels and all types. For further information regarding the space, contact studio_uk@55DSL.com

And to kick things off, 55DSL proudly presents a collaboration between Rabodiga and Mitchy Bwoy with “Hell Hath No Fury”, an exhibition that will explore the basic themes surrounding trust, sexuality and innocence, where the artists will take turns at being the wolf and the little red riding hood… Will innocence prevail? Only you can decide!

The first day for the public to see this show is Saturday 6th of December - from 12pm - the artists will be in residence. The work from this show is available to buy, prices range up to £1500, and that’s not all: to accompany this show there are 55 limited edition prints, with the stunning image you see in the photo seen in the attached press release, all signed by the artists, at £95 each that only the first 20 will be able to buy at £55...just in time for Christmas!

Please vote for my 55DSL contest submissions

Just when you were wondering if I could jock 55DSL any harder, I spent a few hours this weekend on some submissions for the 55DSL logo remix contest they're doing in conjunction with Cut&Paste. If you have a minute, please take a look at my submissions and vote for them (2 of them are above, there are 5 or 6 more). I would be so stoked to win that I'm not 100% sure I would survive the excitement!

The rules are pretty simple: all entries must use 55DSL's colors, some element that refers to the shield in their existing logo, and should preserve the existing aspect ratio. As you can probably guess, my biggest influences as a graphic designer are Swiss modernism and West Coast graffiti. Put the two together and you have what you see above, for better or for worse.

View/vote for my submissions here.

Forever 21 teams up with Saturn for winter contest

I hopped on Forever21.com this morning to look for some shirts and saw a giant Saturn staring at me- Forever 21 and Saturn are giving away a 2009 Saturn Sky. Forever 21 is hands down my favorite American retailer (Zumiez is pretty awesome too), so it's exciting to see them ramping up their marketing efforts like this.

Partnerships and collaborations are one of the fundamental tools in lifestyle marketing, so hopefully Forever 21 can build on this campaign to create something that integrates the two brands a little more tightly. For example, 55DSL's Space Invaders shirt collaboration with Taito brought the strengths of both companies to bear, creating something unique that neither could have done on their own.

In any case, it's cool to see Forever 21 partnering with a brand as big as Saturn. Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg and we'll see more from them in the future.

Last call for entries in the 55DSL logo remix contest

Ryan Quinlan's entry- siiiiiiiiiiiiick

I got a note from Gretel at Cut & Paste to remind everybody that Friday, December 5 is the last call for entries in the 55DSL Logo Remix contest. More details:

There’s still time for your readers to create a design, vote on submissions and influence the final decision, and we’d love it if you posted a quick update about the final deadline.

Again, 55DSL is challenging devotees and designers to stretch their creativity and reinterpret the brand’s iconic angel/shield emblem during its 2008 Logo Remix Challenge. The Grand Prize winner’s redesign will be featured in 55DSL’s 2010 spring/summer 10.55 limited edition collection in collaboration with international artists and designers. The winning designer will also receive a cash prize of 1,055 € (about $1,321). The looming deadline for entries is Friday, December 5^th.

55DSL also has Facebook group & fanpage (http://www.facebook.com/pages/55DSL/9981823117), as well as place to view and vote on all entries-to-date (http://logoremix.55dsl.com/gallery).

I think I might have to work on a couple of entries over the Thanksgiving weekend. I am a huge 55DSL fan, and I'd like to think I've still got some graphic design chops, so I'll give it a shot!

55DSL logo remix contest

55DSL announces a contest to remix their logo:

Contestants will need to successfully reinterpret the Shield logo and represent 55DSL’s identity as an experimental, innovative brand. This will involve a balancing act of looking back at the label’s origins aswell as forward to its future, considering the graphic design, urban culture, extreme sports, and music influences that have always been at the heart of the label’s fun-loving, nonconformist attitude.

My take
This is a great example of a marketing tool that's great for a lifestyle brand, but terrible for a traditional brand. 55DSL's consumers are passionate and design-savvy, so they're a perfect fit for a contest like this. They'll be more than willing to invest time and energy in it, and the results will be awesome. On the other hand, imagine if JC Penney did something like this. I'm willing to bet it would be quite disappointing, because their consumers have no emotional investment in the brand.

The big takeaway is that, as we all know but sometimes forget, what's good for the goose isn't always good for the gander. Don't do user-generated content or social media just because it's possible, do it because it's right for your brand.

55DSL launches motocross line with AXO

One of my very favorites brands, 55DSL, announced a partnership to launch a new motocross clothing line:

55DSL is pleased to announce a brand new motocross clothing line created in collaboration with 30-year heritage in the off-road field’s AXO, for a winning combination and guaranteed success! The line will comprise helmets, goggles, sweaters, pants and gloves, and will be available in limited quantities in the best motorbike dealerships worldwide as of January 2009.

My take
First of all, it's 55DSL so you know the clothes are going to be SUHWEET. Beyond that, it's a very interesting move for both 55DSL and the motocross world. Moto has always been, in my eyes, a separate beast from the rest of the action sports world, and plays by a slightly different set of rules. I'm definitely not an expert on the moto scene, but it seems to be growing in the same way that skateboarding and snowboarding were years ago. That said, my experience with moto is mostly limited to briefly living with Metal Mulisha rider Beau Manley's wife many years ago, so I could be reading too much into Fox's success in the past few years.

Read more on the 55DSL blog